Plan Canada supports microfinancing to help people lift themselves out of poverty. Microfinancing provides small loans and financial services to those without access to capital. This allows people to start small businesses and become financially independent to support their families. Plan works with partners around the world to facilitate microfinancing programs and village savings groups. These programs allow people to invest in each other through small loans and build community support systems.

1. Micro-
Financing

2. Plan Canada and micro
financing support
Plan is a global movement for change,
mobilizing millions of people around the
world to support social justice for children in
developing countries.
Founded in 1937, PLAN is one of the world’s
oldest and largest international
development agencies, working in
partnership with millions of people around
the world to end global poverty.

3. Microfinance
Microfinance involves extending small loans,
savings and other basic financial services to
people that don’t currently have access to
capital. It’s a key strategy in helping people
living in poverty to become financially
independent, which helps them become more
resilient and better able to provide for their
families in times of economic difficulty.
Considering nearly half the world survives on less
than $2 a day, microfinance is a vital solution.

4. Six benefits of microfinance:
1. Access Banks simply won’t extend loans
to those with little or no assets, and
generally don’t engage in the small size of
loans typically associated with
microfinancing. Microfinancing is based on
the philosophy that even small amounts of
credit can help end the cycle of poverty.
2. Better loan repayment rates Microfinance
tends to target women borrowers, who are
statistically less likely to default on their loans
than men. So these loans help empower
women, and they are often safer
investments for those loaning the funds.

5. 3. Extending education Families receiving
microfinancing are less likely to pull their
children out of school for economic
reasons.
4. Improved health and welfare
Microfinancing can lead to improved
access to clean water and better sanitation
while also providing better access to health
care.
5. Sustainability Even a small working
capital loan of $100 can be enough to
launch a small business in a developing
country that could help the benefactor pull
themselves and their family out of poverty..

6. 6. Job creation Microfinancing can help
create new employment opportunities, which
has a beneficial impact on the local
economy.

7. Village Savings & Loans
WHO? Youth and adults
WHAT? A program that allows members to
pool their money and resources and invest
in each other’s initiatives, like selling rice,
returning to school or buying livestock.
WHY? These projects help people lift
themselves out of poverty by helping them
establish successful businesses. They also
teach financial literacy and reinforce the
benefits of working together to benefit
everyone.

8. HOW? At each Village Savings and Loans
Association (VSLA) meeting, the group focuses
on business and loan proposals that have been
put up for consideration. They then determine
which individuals to loan money to. After a loan
is given, it must be repaid within 3 months with a
small amount of interest
COMMUNITY BUILDING
Members also give a small amount at each
meeting to a "social fund". This fund is used
when someone in the group has sudden
unexpected expenses, like medical bills, special
food for a family health issue or other
emergency.

9. Plan’s involvement in Micro
financing
Hundreds of thousands of people achieve
financial stability thanks to microfinance
schemes facilitated by Plan through its
partners, helping them protect their families
from emergencies and plan for the future.
Through small loans and savings schemes,
Plan's microfinance programs offer
assistance to the very poor with a special
emphasis on access for women.

10. By providing access to financial resources
and the opportunity to accumulate savings,
PLAN microfinance schemes allow families
greater flexibility in managing their
resources to become more resilient and
provide for their children.
In Peru, for example, Plan’s work through
partnerships has helped 8,000 families
access financial services and receive
educational support.

11. One partner is Arariwa, a non-governmental
organization with expertise in
microfinance projects. Together PLAN has
helped bring village banks to rural areas of
the Cusco region and complemented
these services with educational projects on
business management and children's and
women's health.
http://plancanada.ca/microfinance

12. Other Micro finance institutions
KIVA
KIVA is a non-profit organization with a
mission to connect people through lending
to alleviate poverty. Leveraging the internet
and a worldwide network of microfinance
institutions, Kiva lets individuals lend as little
as $25 to help create opportunity around
the world

13. Kiva envisions a world where all people -
even in the most remote areas of the globe
- hold the power to create opportunity for
themselves and others.
Kiva believes providing safe, affordable
access to capital to those in need helps
people create better lives for themselves
and their families

14. Since Kiva was founded in 2005:
1,215,780 Kiva lenders
$600,448,550in loans
98.79% repayment rate
KIVA works with:
274 Field Partners
450 volunteers around the world
78 different countries

15. Total amount lent through
Kiva:
$600,448,550
Kiva Users: 1,803,808
Kiva Users who have funded
1,215,780
a loan:
Borrowers funded through
Kiva:
1,392,680
Number of loans made
through Kiva:
754,788
Kiva Field Partners: 274
Countries where Kiva Field
78
Partners are located:
Repayment rate: 98.79%
Average loan size: $418.12
Average loans made per
10.14
Kiva lender:
Statistics

16. Through Labs, Kiva provides crowd-sourced capital to relieve the
cost constraints on new ideas. And together with this new breed of
Kiva partners, Kiva is testing and developing new financial products
for borrowers worldwide.
Kiva’s approach is to see what works and share the results with a
global audience. Ultimately, the hope is to get high-impact products
to people who have been too long overlooked, and demonstrate
their success to the global market.
Challenges:
Financing Agriculture: Creating flexible financing to help farmers
overcome uncertainties.
Closing the Energy Gap: Financing renewables to replace expensive
dirty and dangerous sources of energy.
Access to Education: Loans for students with promising futures but no
credit history.
Leveraging mobile technology: Lowering costs and expanding
access with mobile-based business models.
www.kiva.org

17. FINCA International
FINCA’s mission is to provide financial services to the
world’s lowest-income entrepreneurs so they can
create jobs, build assets and improve their standard
of living.
FINCA’s vision is to be a global microfinance network
collectively serving more low-income entrepreneurs
than any other microfinance institution while
operating on commercial principles of performance
and sustainability.
Organization
 With headquarters in Washington, DC, FINCA
reaches over 1.7 million clients through its 22
subsidiaries in Africa, Eurasia, the Middle East and
South Asia, and Latin America. Our outreach is
among the broadest and most comprehensive of
today’s microfinance institutions.
 /

18. Approach
 When clients come to FINCA for a loan, most of them are
already micro-entrepreneurs. They have enough
experience to know that, without additional working
capital, their odds of becoming or staying profitable and
productive, or of making improvements in their lives, remain
low. They are looking for a business loan, much like any
other entrepreneur, but at a micro level.
 For these small-scale businesses, even small amounts of
capital can make a dramatic difference. A business loan of
a few hundred dollars can enable micro-entrepreneurs to
pay wholesale rather than retail prices for the goods they
resell, or to buy with cash rather than on consignment, or
acquire a more modern piece of essential equipment,
turning their businesses into profitable, sustainable
enterprises. This small increase in purchasing power can
have an immediate impact on a client’s productivity and
earnings. For other clients, having a safe and trusted place
to store and save their daily revenue is most critical. All of
these needs are met by FINCA.

19. FINCA provides clients with a wide range of
the financial products and services that micro-entrepreneurs
need including savings accounts;
group and individual loans; credit life, short-term
disability, and hospitalization insurance; and money
transfers. These products vary by local demand, and
they are adapted to comply with local regulations
and culture. Each FINCA Subsidiary is run by a local
team of professionals with intimate knowledge of
their market, and it is this localized, client-driven
approach that has made FINCA’s global expansion
possible and so effective. FINCA is firmly committed
to Client Protection and fair practices and maintains
strict policies to ensure compliance. Our local loan
officers are trained in FINCA’s mission, and
dedicated to helping clients build successful
businesses while ensuring that they are protected
from unnecessary risks.

20. FINCA providing pathways out of Poverty
http://www.fincacanada.org/